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The pro wrestling world has been put on hold due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus. As they say, the show must go on. Pro wrestling's top two companies, WWE and AEW have forged along with their weekly television series, albeit, without an audience.
For WWE, Monday Night Raw and SmackDown have aired from the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida the past two weeks; while All Elite Wrestling's Dynamite aired from Daily's Place in Jacksonville. All of the shows aired without access to the public.
Most of the nation is currently urged to stay at home to prevent the spread of the virus; which means a pro wrestling show with no audience is going to be the new normal for the foreseeable future.
This article will take a look at five moments from Monday Night Raw, SmackDown, and Dynamite that were still effective without a sold-out arena to react to the moment.
The moments range from in-ring promos to long-awaited debuts. Continue to take a look at a unique moment from a WWE Hall of Famer.
#5 A beer bash on 3:16 Day
While it is unknown what year it truly originated, every March 16th is known as 3:16 Day in honor of Stone Cold Steve Austin. The WWE announced a 3:16 Day celebration weeks ahead of time on Monday Night Raw but did not foresee the Coronavirus changing the way everyone around the world does things.
Thankfully for the WWE Universe, the celebration would go on as Austin would graciously agree to head to Orlando to slam beers and deliver stunners.
Austin would deliver various decrees going forward for 3:16 Day; while Raw announcer Byron Saxton would give his rating for each one. Everyone around the world knew this was going to end up with Saxton taking a Stunner, including Renee Young.
Though the opinions of the segment vary, they did the best they could with the situation provided. There was no doubt that this was an entertaining and fun segment, something the WWE Universe needed.
Get the full List of wwe events affected by Covid 19 Panademic
#4 Undertaker (with a new look) attacks The OC
On the March 16th edition of Monday Night Raw, there was to be a contract signing to make the match between AJ Styles and The Undertaker official.
Raw announcer Jerry Lawler was in the ring to introduce The Undertaker; which was an interesting moment in itself. As seen in the photo above, Taker had a different look similar to his American Badass / Big Evil days from 2000 to 2003. He also walked to the ring with a speed and a purpose; which is something we have rarely seen from The Undertaker.
The contract itself wasn't in the ring but in the hands of Styles backstage. Once he signed it, he made Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson head to the ring to deliver it personally.
As you would expect, it didn't end well for Gallows and Anderson. Undertaker would kill the lights and when they came back on, he was behind the duo. A beatdown would ensue before Taker signed the contract and stuffed it in Anderson's mouth Ted DiBiase style.
#3 The return of the Broken Brilliance
Ever since the inception of All Elite Wrestling's Dynamite, the Inner Circle and The Elite have waged war on each other that will eventually culminate in Blood and Guts (AEW's take on WarGames). AEW President Tony Khan has since announced that the match will be postponed due to the Coronavirus.
Two weeks ago on Dynamite, the Inner Circle took out Nick Jackson with a brutal attack backstage. The injuries suffered from the attack would leave The Elite with one person short for the foreseeable future.
Last week, the main event of Dynamite pitted Matt Jackson, "Hangman" Adam Page, and Cody against the Inner Circle's Santana, Ortiz, and Jake Hager. The Inner Circle picked up the win, giving them the advantage in the Blood & Guts match.
After the match, Chris Jericho would brag about having the match and numbers advantage for Blood and Guts before being interrupted by a familiar drone. That drone was Vanguard 1. Matt Jackson would proclaim that The Elite is not outnumbered; which led to the reveal of Broken Matt Hardy debuting with All Elite Wrestling.
#2 Edge drove 17 hours to deliver a message to Randy Orton
On the Road to WrestleMania, there hasn't been a more intense feud that the one between Randy Orton and Edge. It all started at the Royal Rumble when Edge made a surprise return at entrant #21. Just as it looked like Edge and Orton would work together, Edge would eliminate Orton.
The feud would explode the very next night on Monday Night Raw when it appeared we'd get a reunion of Rated RKO, instead Orton would deliver an RKO and a con-chair-to. To make matters worse, Orton would deliver an RKO to Edge's wife, Beth Phoenix, a few weeks ago.
On the March 16th edition of Monday Night Raw, Edge would make a long drive from his home in North Carolina to the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. His wife Beth would reveal that it was roughly a 17-hour trip.
While Edge revealed that Beth wanted him to retire again, he is not going to because he's out for revenge. This great promo ended with the reveal that the match at WrestleMania between Orton and Edge will be a Last Man Standing Match.
#1 The Debut of Brodie Lee
For several weeks, The Dark Order teased that they are answering to a higher power called The Exalted One. On the March 18th edition of Dynamite, that Exalted One was revealed to be none other than Brodie Lee.
Brodie Lee is best known as Luke Harper from his WWE tenure that lasted from 2012 to 2019. His television debut would come as part of the Wyatt Family with Bray Wyatt and Erick Rowan.
Evil Uno proclaimed that the Exalted One would arrive on Dynamite on March 18th and he delivered with the following debut vignette.
Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian were in the ring watching the vignette. Once it ended, the lights came on and Brodie Lee was in the ring! Lee would destroy the duo (Scorpio Sky was not in attendance) and leave the laying in the ring.
It was a tremendous way to debut a huge acquisition for All Elite Wrestling with the combination of an effective vignette to reveal the Exalted One followed by the attack inside the ring.
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